After the Battle
by Airhead259
Summary: A slight AU - what if the final battle had gone differently?


_**Wow, I can't believe I wrote a story longer than 1,000 words! +is happy+**_

_**This story is kind of like an AU, where the characters are a few years older and…well…read it to find out :3**_

_**Enjoy! **_

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The doors to the Palace were thrown open as the young girl rushed into the room. She froze almost immediately. Not a single part of the room remained intact. Burnt drapes barely clung to the walls. The pillars holding up the ceiling looked like they were going to collapse any moment. Fires were still burning in some areas. The carpet, once bright red, had tuned a dark shade of crimson. It was obvious that there had been blood shed. 'But whose blood was it?' she thought to herself.

Preparing for the worst, the girl stepped into the room, eyeing the debris suspiciously. The pieces of wood and stone glowed eerily from the light of the flames. But she carried on. Nothing could stop her now. She had already come too far.

Suddenly, she froze again. A subtle groan echoed through the room, bouncing across the walls. She couldn't make out who it was, but the sound still made her shudder. And then, she saw it. A large figure collapsed in the middle of the room. It wore black robes with gold trim, singed in some areas. She walked up to it slowly, drawing in a shallow breath with every step. The air around her was stale and the stench was horrifying. She hoped it wasn't who she thought it was…

Upon reaching the body, she reached out with her foot and attempted to turn it around, in order to see its face. With some effort, she flipped it over and found herself face-to-face with Fire Lord Ozai.

Emitting a soft cry, she jumped back. However, after a few moments without a reaction from him, her suspicions were confirmed.

He was dead.

She let out a sigh of relief. _'It's not him,'_ she breathed, calmness washing over her for just a moment; until she realized something. _'Where IS he?!' _

Just then, the groan from before resonated through the halls again – fainter this time. And only after hearing the noise again did she notice the other crumpled figure across the room, struggling to get up.

She gasped, a loud gasp that reached the ears of the person, who immediately stopped moving and turned his head towards her, deep grey meeting her gaze. He tried to get up again, but cried out in pain and collapsed on the floor.

Blinking back tears that threatened to fall, she began to run towards him. Every step seemed to take hours, as she remembered their conversation from earlier in the day.

_Flashback:_

_"Don't go Aang! We need you! I need you!"_

_"I have to go – the whole world is counting on me to defeat the Fire Lord. It's my duty..."_

_"But what if you get hurt? What if you DIE? I won't be able to live with myself knowing that I wasn't with you to help."_

_"But you __will__ be with me. You always have been."_

_He flashed her a grin before taking off into the sky, leaving her with tears streaming down her face._

_The true meaning of his words didn't hit her until much later, and by that time, he was already long gone…_

_End flashback_

After what seemed like an eternity, she was by his side, coaxing him to lie down as she pulled out some water from her canteen and began to heal him. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"K...Ka...Katara…," he finally managed to choke out.

The girl smiled softly at the mention of her name, but didn't say anything as she continued to heal his cuts and bruises. He had taken a lot of damage._ 'Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't noticed him in time,'_ she thought to herself.

She ignored the thought and instead watched his face to make sure she wasn't causing him any discomfort. His expression, which had once been a look of total anguish, was now calm as his eyes started to close and he drifted off into sleep. She checked his pulse; it was still there. All he needed now was rest.

All of a sudden, the pillars began to give way under the weight of the ceiling. The whole room began to collapse. Katara's eyes widened in shock as she realized that they would be crushed under the rubble if they didn't move.

With strength that she didn't even know she possessed, she picked up the sleeping boy and began to run towards the exit. Her progress was slow; he had grown in the past few years. But she still tried.

Without warning, a part of the ceiling crumbled, trapping them between a wall and the freshly fallen wreckage. There was no way they could get to the exit now. Katara was on the verge of tears. She was sure that they wouldn't make it out alive. Until she remembered something.

Aang was an earthbender.

Quickly, she placed him on the floor and shook him in a desperate attempt to wake him. If he didn't get up soon, they would both be buried alive.

The boy's eyes shot open. Katara blushed and moved back in surprise, but quickly regained her composure.

"Aang! You have to earthbend a hole in the wall or we'll die!" she yelled, not caring how desperate she sounded.

"I'll try," he muttered.

After standing up with Katara's help, he took in his surroundings and managed to grasp the gravity of the situation. He turned around to face the wall and, with all the strength that he could muster, hurled a large boulder at it using his earthbending, smashing it completely

A gaping hole remained where the wall had once been and sunlight streamed through it, blinding both Aang and Katara. Leaning on each other for support, the two teens rushed outside.

Almost as if it had been waiting for them to exit, the large structure collapsed completely as soon as they were out. They stood side by side and watched as the building was destroyed, leaving only a pile of rocks and earth where the once great Palace had stood.

Katara turned her head slightly to look at her companion. He offered her a weak grin, and then wavered and fell backwards onto the soft grass, most probably unconscious.

She smiled and knelt down beside him, taking in his appearance. Other than being covered in dirt and a few scratches and cuts here and there, he was alright. No one would have been able to tell that, just a few minutes ago, he had been lying on the Palace floor, struggling to get up.

She lay down slowly and turned to face him.

"Thank you, Aang. For everything," she murmured before kissing his forehead and drifting off to sleep beside him.

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_**Did I mention that I'm proud of this fic?**_

_**Please R&R, it makes me feel happy! Tell me what you think :)**_


End file.
